The Treasure in the Forest (Story) Grade 12

The Treasure in the Forest

Characters

Major Characters

Evans  : friend of Hooker who made an adventurous journey for hunting treasures

Hooker : friend of Evans who made an adventurous journey for hunting treasures

Secondary Characters

Chang-hi : a Chinese man who had a map to locate treasure

Chinaman : Chang-hi’s co-worker

Main theme of the story

            The fundamental message of The Treasure in the Forest is to not take risks when we are unprepared. The two Englishmen took risks in an unfamiliar act and were killed soon. This story was about two Englishmen who heard about gold on an island and obtained a map from a Chinese.

Summary

            The story entitled ‘The Treasure in the Forest’ has been written by H.G. Wells. This story is somehow like a suspense story which is about the two treasure hunters, Evans and Hooker, who have murdered a Chinese man to steal his map that locates a buried stash of gold ingots.

            Hooker studied the map, which the narrator revealed that they stole from a Chinaman, Chang-hi, whom they murdered during the theft. Chang-hi had by chance discovered the treasure left behind by a shipwrecked Spanish galleon, and had decided to rebury it elsewhere, at a location revealed by his map. They were very tired and hungry as if they had no food to eat. They looked at the map and got puzzled by the dashes in the map.

            Evans and Hooker identified the spot indicated on the map after beaching their canoe. They stroke into the interior of the island through the forest. They soon discovered the identifying pile of stones just as the map said, but alongside it laid the purple and swollen body (dead body) of a Chinaman who had evidently himself been looking for the treasure. The men assumed the Chinaman to have been one of Chang-hi’s associates, who had decided to try and claim the treasure for himself.

            Evans and Hooker started to pick up the gold ingots to take them back to the canoe. They loaded as much of the gold as they could drag back to the canoe. They kept the gold ingots in Evans's jacket. They set off, but after about a hundred yards Evans's arms started to ache. He became pale and fainted. He fell down. Hooker started to rearrange the ingots on the jacket after Evans’s collapse. He also started to feel like a thorn prick. Hooker then realized the true meaning that Chang-hi had behind his grin. Chang-hi had covered his treasure with thorns. The story ends as Hooker lay dying alongside the body of his companion.

Analysis and Interpretation

            The main idea of The Treasure in the Forest is to tell us don't take a risk when you are not prepared. We must prepare before going anywhere. The end of greed is destructive. We must focus and understand each thing before making any decision on it. Otherwise, its result is bad like Evans and Hooker.

            This story represents that greed is the big enemy of a person and also shows the weakness of money and wealth.

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